


Clap Your Hands

by twinsarein



Category: Smallville/DCU
Genre: Alternate Reality, Established Relationship, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-06
Updated: 2013-10-06
Packaged: 2017-12-28 13:24:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/992491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twinsarein/pseuds/twinsarein
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce is being stubborn, but Clark and Lex are convinced they all belong together.  They just need to get Bruce to believe it, too</p>
            </blockquote>





	Clap Your Hands

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Spazlady2002](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spazlady2002/gifts).



“Hi, Bruce. How did everything go in Gotham, today?” Clark settled back against the pillows on the bed, and looked at the videoconferencing screen he’d set up at the foot of the bed. Right now, Bruce didn’t have his end on, so Clark was just looking at an avatar.

“As expected. The board is keeping me busy with one inane problem after another.”

There was an odd echo sound in the background, and Clark wondered where Bruce had picked up the call. Based on stories from both Lex and Bruce, Clark knew that Wayne Manor had some big rooms, but surely not big enough to cause that kind of echo.

“I’m on a videophone right now, could you turn your’s on? It’s been too long since I’ve seen you.” Bruce had been unavailable to all calls for the last several days. Nothing he or Lex tried had gotten them through to the man.

If Clark were better at flying, he would have gone to Gotham to find out what was going on. Soon, though. He’s been practicing, and Lex had been helping him.

“It’s only been two weeks; hardly time to be missing me already. Besides, I’m...not sure that’s a good idea, right now.”

To anyone else, Bruce’s voice would have sounded very emotionless. That quick dismissal of what he’d said, though, spoke volumes to Clark. It spoke of longing, quickly suppressed. It spoke of loneliness, quickly denied. The hesitation at the end, as slight as it as, spoke of something else Clark couldn’t quite figure out. However, he would eventually.

Willing to take any advantage Bruce gave him, Clark pushed against the stubborn wall of Bruce’s repressed needs. “Don’t you miss us, Bruce? Even if it’s only been two weeks, I know we miss you. More than I can express. Maybe when Lex arrives, he can use his eloquence to tell you how much. I just know that we do.”

“You just miss the sex. It’s been just you and Lex from the beginning; with me out of the way, you’ll soon get used to that dynamic again, and you’ll move on easily enough. I’ll become a pleasant memory.”

“How can you say that?” Distress made the question come out more quietly than Clark wanted, but he didn’t try to hide his reaction. However, he did clear his throat in an effort to speak more clearly. “You may have only been with us for a month, but you became a part of us. You completed us. You moderated Lex’s fiery temper and my habit of acting without thinking. We’re better with you, than we are without you”

Over the speaker, Clark could hear Bruce take a shaky breath, and Clark determinedly continued to push. “I won’t argue that the sex was fantastic. Having both you and Lex to hold and caress made for the best sex I’ve ever had, and were some of the best moments of my life.”

“Clark--”

“No! You need to listen to me.” Clark felt as though he was fighting against much more that Bruce’s stubbornness, now, and it was a fight he was determined to win. “I said that the sex were some of the best moments in my life, but they were no where near all of them. Most of the others revolved around the other things the three of us did. The spirited discussions around the supper table, the quiet moments when we’d gather in the living room to read and listen to music. The time I walked in on you and Lex sparring, watching you both laugh as you dodged each other’s blows. I haven’t counted them up, Bruce, but I can tell you that most of the best moments in my life happened in that month you lived with us.”

“Clark speaks for both of us.”

Clark’s head whipped around at the sound of Lex’s voice. He hadn’t even heard the man come out of the bathroom. “Lex! How much did you hear?”

Shedding his robe, Lex climbed into bed and settled between the v of Clark’s legs. Clark shivered as Lex’s bare skin rubbed against his. They were both only wearing a pair of boxers, and Clark did his best to suppress his desire to moan when Lex’s back pressed against his groin and chest.

Originally, he thought the three of them were going to have fun phone sex, as they’d had during their last two phone calls. Based on what Bruce had said so far tonight, though, Clark was having serious doubts about how good an idea that would be. He didn’t want to give any credence to Bruce’s assertion that the three of them were all about sex.

Still, Clark wrapped his arms around Lex’s chest, and pressed a kiss against his bare scalp. Lex leaned into the embrace, and then addressed Clark’s question. “I admit, I heard most of the conversation. I agree that the sex was spectacular, but I also agree that those times only made up some of the best moments of the month. More than the sex, I enjoyed coming down from that endorphin high wrapped in the arms of both of you, or wrapping you in mine. I enjoyed the quiet starts to our day, as all three of us made and ate breakfast together.”

Tightening his arms around Lex, Clark nuzzled the side of his lover’s face, and rumbled his approval and love into Lex’s ear. Lex’s openness and honesty with Bruce was a very strong indicator of how much Lex wanted this, too.

Over the speaker, they could hear Bruce’s breathing get a little ragged. “Clark...Lex... God, how can you...”

The ache in Bruce’s voice as he trailed off was clear, and Clark’s heart went out to him. He never wanted either of his lovers to hurt in any way. “Bruce, why won’t you let us see you?”

A quick indrawn breath and a long pause were his only answer, and Clark thought he was just going to be ignored. But, “Your line isn’t secure, and there are things I didn’t tell you. Things it wouldn’t be safe to say right now; things that you shouldn’t have to find out about over a phone.”

Before Clark could speak, Lex leaned forward. “Bruce, are you in pain? Have you been hurt?”

Clark tensed at the question and shot Lex a questioning look. Even though the question wasn’t verbalized, Lex answered it anyway. “I’m very familiar with how a voice sounds when trying to hide how much pain the speaker is in. Smallville gave me a lot of practice.”

Again there was a pause on the other end of the line, but not quite as long this time. “Yes, but not too badly. Alfred is taking care of me, and I’ll be fine. Good as new, soon.”

Clark immediately wanted to fly to Gotham and help, but he didn’t want to leave Lex behind, and he didn’t want to barge into the home Bruce had been so protective of. “Why don’t you come here. Lex can send his helicopter for you, and we can pamper you--”

“No!” Clark could hear Bruce stop and take a deep breath, and when he resumed, his voice was much more modulated. “I appreciate it, Clark, and I know you mean well. But, I won’t come to Metropolis. Why I won’t, is part of what I didn’t tell you. A mission I have, one that I’ve dedicated my life to. I will never live somewhere besides Gotham. Certainly not for any length of time.”

The breath caught in Clark’s throat at the decisive tone in Bruce’s voice. He marshaled his determination, however, and refused to admit defeat. “Then, let us come there, Bruce. We can come to you and talk about this thing you can’t mention on the phone, and your mission, and we can help take care of you.”

“I appreciate that, Clark. You don’t know how much, but--”

Not wanting to hear anything negative, Clark talked over his lover. “We can even help with your mission. We’d be great at it, right Lex?”

The look Lex gave Clark is knowing, and Clark fights back a blush. “I don’t believe there is much that Clark and I can’t accomplish if we work together. And if you’re added into the mix, Bruce, I know there is nothing that we can’t work out and make succeed.”

“That’s right. So, if you aren’t willing to live here, then we can work something else out. We could even stay with you. There are some things about me that you don’t know either, things which would make that possible, and could even help with your mission.”

“Metropolis is your city, though. You’d give that up? You’d--”

Now that it looked like Bruce might be willing to at least consider the possibility, Clark was too impatient to wait for the other man to finish. “I’m saying we don’t have to. You can have Gotham, we can have Metropolis, and we can all have each other. We can do it, Bruce. If we’re all willing to work together, and if we believe in us, then I don’t see any reason why we can’t have it all.”

Clark was breathing hard from his impassioned speech, and from his anxious desire to convince Bruce. A hand rubbing soothingly on his leg made him slow down long enough to take a deep breath.

With a silent look, Lex let Clark know that it was his turn. “I used to be like you, Bruce. Not too long ago, in fact. We aren’t the kind of men who believe that happily ever after is possible. At least, not for ourselves. I started believing after I met Clark. It hasn’t always been easy, but we’re making it work. But, as good as we are together, I think we can be even better as a trio. Tell me you don’t believe it, too. Convince me you don’t believe in what we can be together, and we’ll leave you alone. We won’t contact you anymore.”

Body tense, hands clenched into fists, Clark waited on tenderhooks for Bruce’s response to Lex’s challenge.

For several seconds there was nothing but the sound of breathing over the line. Clark’s hopes started to rise, but he ruthlessly squashed them flat. “I... God, Lex. How?”

The one word question made it impossible for Clark to contain himself anymore. He leapt from the bed, taking Lex with him, and had them both dressed in seconds. “We’ll be there in a minute or two, Bruce.”

“A minute or two? Even using the fastest method--”

“Believe, Bruce. Two minutes, at the most."

 

************************

In Gotham, Bruce grabbed a robe, and headed out of the Batcave, and up to his home to wait. For some reason, he did believe.

***********************

Back in Metropolis, Clark stood on the balcony of the penthouse and held out his hand to Lex. “I know I haven’t perfected this yet, but I’m sure I can do it now. If you don’t want to chance it, though, I’ll und--”

Bypassing Clark’s outstretched hand, Lex wrapped his arms around Clark’s neck. “Ready when you are.”

Pressing a kiss to Lex’s forehead, Clark put an arm around Lex’s waist, and rose into the air.


End file.
